OPINION:When it comes to attracting investment and creating stable communities through good-paying jobs, the Inland Empire has been dealt some good cards, and some bad cards. Too often, what comes out of Sacramento falls into the latter category.
Street art in Santa Barbara., August 2011. Philip Bird OPINION: Since 2003, California’s Governors and the Legislature have allocated $1.1 million annually to the Arts Council, the bare minimum necessary to qualify for a $1 million National Endowment for the Arts grant. This lack of foresight has put California dead last among all 50 states in per capita funding for its arts agency.
OPINION: Most of us don’t think twice about our options when we stop to fill our tank with gasoline. But what if you knew you had a choice of fuels, not just of brands?
Assembly RepublicansCalifornia Republicans, long opposed to the $68 billion high-speed rail plan backed by Gov. Brown, say it’s time to dump the bullet train and spend money instead on critical transportation infrastructure. “I think people are tired of the train and tired of waiting for the train,” Assembly GOP Leader Connie Conway of Tulare, accompanied by Republican lawmakers, told reporters. “They’re standing at the train stop and the train is not coming.” (Photo: Staff, Assemblymember Eric Linder)
State Capitol, Sacramento. (Photo: David Monniaux)Californians give Governor Jerry Brown a record-high job approval rating and his budget proposal strong bipartisan support, according to a statewide survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), with funding from The James Irvine Foundation. The state legislature’s approval rating is a near-record 42 percent among adults and is at 33 percent among likely voters. Both ratings are similar to December. Asked to rate the job performance of their own state legislators, 48 percent of adults and 45 percent of likely voters approve. (Photo: David Monniaux)
“The LAO says the state is flush with cash and multibillion-dollar reserves loom in coming years. How should we spend the money?”
From the PPIC survey on how Californians view their government: Most people without health insurance intend to get coverage via the new law, even though skepticism runs deep over the ACA itself. The state’s fiscal condition is a mixed bag — the recession is weakening, but the widening divergence between those with resources and those without is a major concern. Support for Gov. Brown is strong as next year’s elections loom, bust Congress and President Obama are getting poorer reviews.
Giant crane handles a ship's cargo at the Port of Long Beach. (Photo:From Humboldt Bay in the north to San Diego in the south, California’s 11 ports generate more than $40 billion in annual economic activity. The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles provide most of it — together, they represent the nation’s largest cargo container port and the world’s sixth busiest harbor. But new pressures, including a revamped Panama Canal, are clouding California’s picture. (Photo: Port of Long Beach)
The Affordable Care Act not only drastically changes how health care is delivered but sharply alters the underpinnings of California’s economy. To get a deeper sense of health care reform’s impact on the Golden State, Capitol Weekly talked to Micah Weinberg, PhD, a senior policy advisor at the Bay Area Council and CEO of Healthy Systems Project, a health care consulting firm based in Sacramento.
Californians can take pride today in the launch of the first California brand marketing campaign to directly target Chinese consumers.
The Visit California announcement in China was part of the governor’s continuing Trade and Investment Mission. We also named the Golden State’s first tourism ambassador from Mainland China, model-actress Gao Yuanyuan.
California has